It went like this: I caught COVID and became really sick, like severe-flu sick.
I got tested at a pharmacy and found out I was positive, and they escorted me into this big room that looked like a hospital cafeteria, put me in a hospital gown, and sat me down with all these other people who had COVID. They handed me a bottle of pills and told me to wait. I didn’t have my phone, my wallet, anything. I was crying and thinking of Aaron and didn’t know what to do.
Then they put all of us on a plane and flew us to this island where there were hundreds of people with COVID living in a huge compound.
Eventually Aaron showed up and he didn’t have COVID but he told me he knew I’d been taken there and asked to be brought to the island to be with me. I just cried and kept taking my pills and stayed close to him.
More and more people started coming to the island, including many people I know in real life. And slowly the people who had brought us there started leaving and taking away all the planes and boats and helicopters.
Eventually we were all stuck there and we all had COVID, but it was this strain that you just sort of have for the rest of your life. You don’t have any symptoms or anything, you feel fine, but you’re a carrier and you’ll always have it.
Then there were discussions about attempting to leave the island, but since it was fairly large and had nice facilities and wildlife and resources, we all figured, why leave?
And somehow we knew the mainland had gotten fucked in the time we’d been there so the plan to bring us all there really backfired on the people who did it, because the island was now safer.
I actually woke up from this dream feeling a little dizzy, which means I tossed and turned in my sleep.
And I’ve had this song in my head all morning:
—emily duchaine
Flommist Emily Duchaine lives in the Pacific Northwest. She likes to drink mead, learn about sharks, and listen to the Talking Heads. She pretends to be a professional businesswoman most days. Copyright © 2021 Emily Duchaine.
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